Associated Press
May 10, 2009
 

Boston — Right whales have plenty to celebrate this Mother’s Day — the sea moms gave birth to a record 39 calves this spring. The New England Aquarium said Friday that the birth surge broke the record of 31 and showed much improvement from 2000, when only one calf was born. Each birthing season is important because right whales are among the most endangered whales in the world, numbering fewer than 400.
 

The mothers travel nearly 1,000 miles down the East Coast to warmer waters off Georgia and Florida to have their babies, who weigh roughly 2,400 pounds at birth. The mothers can lose up to 30,000 pounds in the first year they are nursing.
 

From The Los Angeles Times